Russia maintains election ban on opposition Yabloko, jails deputy head

What the report says

Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld a ban preventing the opposition Yabloko party from contesting September’s parliamentary elections, according to Al Jazeera’s report published Aug. 17, 2026. The ruling leaves out the only registered Russian party that has openly called for an end to the war in Ukraine, further narrowing the space for organized anti-war politics ahead of the vote.

Al Jazeera reported that Yabloko said it would seek further review after its appeal failed. The case was brought by Rodina, a small pro-Kremlin nationalist party, which alleged that Yabloko was backed by Western countries and aimed to weaken Russia’s election process. Yabloko denied those claims and argued that the ban strips voters of a legal option for opposing the war.

On the same day, another court sentenced Yabloko deputy leader Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony. Al Jazeera said he was convicted under laws introduced after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 for allegedly discrediting the armed forces and spreading false information about them.

The report said police detained dozens of supporters and journalists outside the court. More broadly, the case reflects the Kremlin’s continuing crackdown on dissent, a trend that has intensified during the war and has sharply limited public criticism of military policy and the broader political system.